The Only Victim

By the time I found my way home, Ravenna had already been living there for 18 years.

On the first day, Mom and Dad wouldn't even let me through the door.

Mom said I was dirty and probably carrying a virus. Dad said I was a scammer.

However, the DNA results forced them to admit that I was their biological daughter.

An investigation revealed that Ravenna and I had been born in the same hospital and mistakenly switched at birth.

But her mother had died in childbirth, and no records of her father could be found.

Leo tried to comfort me, saying Mom and Dad were just overly suspicious because of their professions, but they still loved me.

But I knew I had always been an outsider in this family.

Soon, the police released their findings on the case.

The victim was a young woman, around 20 years old. Her body bore signs of abuse and her face had been smashed in with a blunt object, leaving it unrecognizable.

She had suffered 40 stab wounds. All ten of her fingernails had been forcibly removed.

There was soot in her mouth and nose and her eyes were shut tight. Traces of an accelerant were found on her body—she had been burned alive after being doused in it.

Dad lit a cigarette. He only smoked when he was in a terrible mood.

"This murderer is ruthless. It won't be easy to catch them. But the landlord upstairs insists on waiting for the killer to be caught so they can get compensation from them."

Even in death, I was just another annoyance to my parents.

At that moment, Leo reminded them, "She was 20 years old, the same age as Raven and Dani. We should tell them to be careful."

Dad cut him off impatiently. "Raven's obedient. Danica is a wild child from the countryside. She's completely uncontrollable. I haven't seen her in a week."

Leo knew how our parents had always treated me, so he chose not to argue.

Noticing that Mom was clutching her stomach with a pained expression, he quickly changed the subject.

"Your stomach hurts again? You haven't had an episode in years—why is it acting up now?"

Mom waved him off. "It's nothing. Probably just stomach pain from skipping breakfast. It happens when I get too busy at the hospital. A few years ago, Danica used to make me breakfast or sandwiches every morning…"

She trailed off mid-sentence, stunned.

The wild child they always talked about had always cared about their health since coming home.

Leo immediately followed up, "Danica is a good kid. Every time you worked overtime, she'd ask me if you had eaten. If you hadn't, she'd cook and bring you food right away."

Mom and Dad clearly had no idea. They had always assumed Leo was the one ordering takeout for them.

That was because they made me leave the food at the security booth instead of letting me inside.

But instead of acknowledging it, they brushed it off.

"She only did that for show," Dad scoffed. "Two days ago, it was Raven's birthday, and she didn't even come home. She was just throwing a tantrum and refusing to come back.

"The last time Raven saw her, it was at some shady bar. She was probably out fooling around. Honestly, I'd rather she were dead than out there embarrassing us with whatever she's doing."

Even after hearing that all those late-night meals they ate were made by me, they still refused to acknowledge anything good about me.

In their eyes, treating Raven poorly was the greatest crime of all.

But Mom, Dad—I wasn't out partying at a bar. I was working there to earn money to buy Raven's birthday gift.

If Raven hadn't gone drinking that night, she never would've noticed me washing glasses behind the counter.

And the wild child you speak of… It was not that I didn't want to come home.

It was just that I could never do that again.

Because I had already died—on the same day you and Raven were celebrating her birthday.

I was right in front of you. And you didn't even recognize me.